Once A Shadow - From the other side

Assassins, Necromancers, sabotage, romance and uncertainty. All these things are what has happened to me over the past few days, and to be honest I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I know one thing is for certain, it's only gonna get a lot more hectic. I woke up, and to my surprise noone was in the room. Real big shocker there. I looked at the clock on my bedside table and realised that I had slept in, probably too much. I trotted into the main room to find Ni cleaning up god knows what, and Spitfire trying to sleep in a chair (unsuccessfully).

"Okay, I'll bite. What the fuck happened in here?"

Spitfire turned her head towards me "Oh, hey. Not much, except Shadow barfing all over Ni."

"Hahahahahahaha! Sucked in! No offense Ni, but sucked in! Just out of curiosity, why did Shadow barf over Ni?"

"Because I tricked him into drinking sewage, put simply."

"Hahahahahaha, that is just evil. You really are sucked in Ni."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. But when I'm done..." he said

"You'll what, wipe my face with the mop? Come on Ni, if you're going to threaten me make it a proper one."

Spitfire got out of her chair. "Alright, break it up you two. If you're going to fight anypony Hornet, it's going to be me. Now come on, I've got some training for you to do. Time to make you a fourth level fighter."

Now I'm pretty good at fighting, but I'm sure this will not end well.

One training session (and a whole lot of pain) later

Yep, I was right, that did not end well. I layed there, completely immobilised when Spitfire came up to me and helped me up.

"Ow, that really hurt. That'll teach me to try and be cocky around you." I said

"Yes, that will teach you. But don't let that get the better of you, because you've got something to drink. Be back in a minute." She then turned around and headed off. A minute later she came back with a vial in hoof. "Here you go, one fourth level potion for you. Only one more to go and you'll become a captain. You feelin' lucky?"

I opened the vial and had a sniff. "I'm feelin' lucky." I then jugged down the lot, realising that there was something different about it. "Hmm, this stuff tastes different than the last lot." I said curiously

"That's because it's got a little extra something in it, and if you're wondering what it is I'll tell you." She then leaned up to my ear and whispered it.

"Really? Well, I thought it tasted simlilar. You really are an evil pegasus, you know that?"

She laughed as she trotted away. "Only on the inside Hornet, only on the inside."

As I headed back to my room for a well deserved nap, I found a note on my bed. I opened it and it said:

Hornet, meet me outside the Cloudiseum ASAP. I have information for you about the BH. From Shards

I was about to head out when Blaze stopped me. "Hey, Hornet! Where you going?"

I turned to face her "Just out for a stroll, have a little stretch after having my ass handed to me."

"Ha, well since you're going somewhere do you mind posting this for me? It's not really important when it gets posted but I'd prefer today. Do you mind?"

She handed me the letter "No problem, be back later."

I walked out of the HQ and down the street towards the Cloudiseum. On the way, I past a postbox and placed the letter inside. After making that quick detour, I arrived at the cloudiseum. The place was rather empty, apart from a few ponies walking about. After glancing about, I saw an elderly pony gesturing me to come over to him. As I got closer, I could see it was Shards, but without the menacing cloak, he just looked like any other pony.

"Good, you made it. I was starting to think that you wouldn't arrive." he said cautiously

"You said you have some information for me?"

"Yes. The leader of the Black Hoof, Sorrow Curse is hiding out in his fortress on the outskirts of the San Palomino desert. Tell your team about this tomorrow, as I will be going back there today to get some things from there. Hopefully the Black Hoof doen't realise our treachery, but if they do I'm sure you'll have them dealt with before anything bad happens. My daughter and I are counting on you, so please be careful. I will contact you again once everything is safe. My daughter was looking forward to seeing you again, so I brought her with me." He then trotted around a corner and came back with Crystal."I'll be waiting in our hotel room, don't be too long darling." As he trotted away, Crystal came up to me and hugged me, before kissing me on the cheek.

"Hey Hornet, I was really hoping to see you again. How's things?"

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"Great. Hey, I was hoping to be able to get to know you a little better, so do you mind if I ask you some questions?"

"Sure," I said somewhat uncomfortably "ask away."

"First of all, I can tell you don't belong here. Where did you come from?"

"Well Crystal, that's not a question I'd like to answer out in public. But if you insist, I'll answer. I'm...I'm from another world."

She started to laugh, but abruptedly stopped after she saw my serious face. "Wait, you're serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious. I used to be a human, from a place called Earth. It's similar to Equestria, but still different. Don't looked so shocked, you're a necromancer. You should be used to hearing weird things, considering what you guys do."

"Okay...so I'll ask you another question. What do you do here?"

"That one's much easier to answer. I work with the wonderbolts, I'm assuming you've heard of them."

"Of course I have, I'm not an idiot. Okay, I want to ask you a more personal question. Do you like me?"

I took a few seconds to try and compile an answer. "Of course I like you, I really like you, but I don't think that we could be 'together'. You see, I already have a marefriend. And before you ask, it's Spitfire the Wonderbolt."

Her smile started to fade. "Oh, okay...I understand. But if anything happens, know that I'll be there for you. And even though you already have a marefriend, I still love you."

"Don't worry, I'll be there for you too. Now run along, I have somethings to do. We'll meet up soon, I promise." As I watched her walk away, something came at me from the corner of my eye. It spear tackled me and pinned me to the ground.

5 minutes earlier, in the perspective of Spitfire

I trotted out to the front door, to get some fresh air. Everything was nice and peaceful. I was about to head back inside when I spotted Hornet trotting down the street towards the Cloudiseum. Natural instinct and curiosity took over as I decided to follow him from a distance. As I caught up to him, he stood out in the courtyard, and a white unicorn came up to him and kissed him. That cheating scumbag! I got closer, trying to hear their converstation.

"...I still love you."

"Don't worry, I'll be there for you too. Now run along, I have somethings to do. We'll meet up soon, I promise."

That's it, I've heard enough. As she left, I ran up to him and speartackled him.

Switching perspective back to Hornet

Holy shit, It's Spitfire! Oh god damn it I'm in deep shit now. As she pinned me to the ground, her face filled with hate and uncertainty. "You cheating bastard!" she shouted

"Look, if you give me a minute, I can explain." I blurted

She released her grip on my neck. "Okay, explain."

"Her name is Crystal Tears, she's a necromancer from the Haysea-"

"A NECROMANCER?" she interrupted. "Why were you going out with a necromancer?!"

"Let me finish. She's not like the other necromancers, her father could see that. That's why they asked me to help them destory the Black Hoof. She also has a crush on me, and I can see that. I also like her, but I also told her that you are already my marefriend, she understands that too. I would have told you, but I didn't know how you would have reacted. All I'm saying is I'm sorry. My question is; will you forgive me?"

She sighed. "Look, I chose you to be the captain of the medic squad because you were honest and courageous. After what you have done, and from what you just said, I still think you are worthy enough. I forgive you." She then hugged me and put an evil grin on her face. "But you know You'll have to make it up to me for this."

"Why do I have the feeling this isn't going to be a romantic dinner at sunset?" I joked.

"Oh, there will be that, but there will be something after that that I'm sure that you'll feel more comfortable with. Maybe your new 'friend' might like to join us?"

"You really are an evil pegasus, aren't you?"

"Hey, I'm immortal, I never grow old, and I never grow up. Now come on, I want ot have a chat to Crystal."

After that we went on a romantic dinner (at sunset) with Crystal at one of the most beautiful resorts in Equestria, followed by something that could only be described as "paradise".

PS: I'm looking for ideas on future chapters, after the assault on the fortress. please let me know if you have any good ones, I'll be sure to credit you for it.